Earthquake
by lilyyuri
Summary: Draco thought he was the happiest man alive when he married his lover. But that was nearly four years ago and he hasn’t heard a thing from his husband. Until today… A oneshot broken down to 6 parts. COMPLETE.
1. 1 of 6

**EARTHQUAKE**

(Title- Re'idat Adama (Earthquake), Artist- Yehudit Ravitz, Album- Shem (Name))

**Disclaimer: **I don't own them; I just borrow them in intervals for my own pleasure!

**Summery:** Draco thought he was the happiest man alive when he married his lover. But that was nearly four years ago and he hasn't heard a thing from his husband. Until today… A one-shot broken down to 6 parts.

**Warning:** This fic contains slash sex, mentions of mpreg and adult language, if you find any of these offensive go read the original books.

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**..o0o.. ..o0o.. ..o0o..**

**July 8 2006, Saturday.**

He shouldn't have been there, he knew that. Shouldn't have come back at all, not here, not where he was so exposed and so vulnerable. But he couldn't really help it, the idea of standing so close to Diagon Alley, to any sort of magical population was far too tempting, not to mention- just one step closer to his beloved. The same person he left three and a half years ago, without so much as a word. The person he loved so much he left in order to keep safe, but Seamus wasn't as naïve as to think that Draco would see his way on this. No, if his blond husband ever saw him again he was more likely to get hexed than kissed. And yet he wasn't able to make himself move from the spot, as farfetched as it seemed, hoping to catch Draco Malfoy of all people coming to Diagon Alley via the 'Leaky Cauldron'. Seamus couldn't leave, as long as there was a sliver of chance that he might see him.

Crossing the road and entering the Alley was out of the question, Seamus knew all too well that once he set foot inside the magical world he'd be watched. He had been watched for so long now, that it was almost disappointing to know that he was free. Seamus wrapped his arms around himself, though the July heat was making the air hang heavy and unmoving with no real hope for a breeze that would stir it and enable people to breath more freely, but he felt chills running down his spine, too long… too long has past since he was here last.

The last time Seamus had been to the heart of the magical community of London was nearly four years ago, a week before he and Draco finally tied the knot. Seamus smiled sadly remembering how happy they both were, after deciding to marry the night before. They had gone to choose rings, the same one that was currently hanging on a chain around his neck. Seamus fingered the smooth lines of the golden ring, as he did every time things felt a little too overwhelming for him, and memories of Draco washed over him, his beautiful face, his hands, the way he smiled, the way he loved Seamus. A tight lump formed in his throat and Seamus let out a small gasping sob. Thinking of Draco was always painful, but today, standing here on the edge of the magical world, so close to him it was ten times harder.

The young Irishman was turning to leave, deciding to put himself out of his misery and carry on with his original plan which was to go back home to Dublin in order to visit his father when a flash of yellow-white hair caught his eye. Seamus stared incredulously at the man, tall and handsome making his way to the hidden pub. Seamus rubbed his eyes in astonishment because this was just too… coincidental, too strange. This could not be him, his brain shouted even when his eyes confirmed the man's identity.

Seamus stared, feeling his knees go weak and his heart going wild, every atom in his body yearned to cross the street and flung himself at the man he loved so much, consequences be damned. The sound of high pitched laughter reached his ears from across the street and for the first time Seamus noticed that Draco wasn't alone. Next to the blond man was skipping happily an equally blond boy, his face sporting a huge grin and his hand clasped securely in Draco's. The tight lump in Seamus' throat tightened further when he took the sight of the father and son, feeling bitter tears forming in his eyes and slowly sliding on his cheeks. He had spent three and a half years in hell, hiding and running constantly, always vowing that he'd return to his husband's side as soon as it was safe again only to discover that his husband has moved on without him and formed a brand new family with some witch.

So Lucius has won, he thought bitterly, after everything the man has put him through- he won. Anger started boiling inside, drying the tears that still clung to his eyelashes and Seamus found himself jumping recklessly to the middle of the busy street, completely ignoring the angry beeping of car horns as he crossed his way towards the 'Leaky Cauldron' where the two blonds disappeared.

Only when he crossed the old pub and found himself in the back yard, facing the wall that connected the outside world to Diagon Alley did Seamus finally stopped to think for a bit. In the last three years he's been living like a muggle, not daring to use any magic that could be linked back to him, and here he stood in front of the brick wall that was separating him from his husband and he felt nervous once more.

About using magic, about facing Draco again, about venturing into the place that he loved so much as an adolescent and as a young man. After a long moment he drew his wand from its little holster on the side of his calf, where it rested ever since he left the magical world and took a deep breath before tapping the proper bricks. As soon as his wand touched the stone the whole wall started to change and shift, forming the famous gateway to the magical world.

Seamus licked his suddenly dry lips and took a deep breath before venturing inside the alley. The place was bustling as it usually did, everywhere were robbed people laughing and talking, busy with their weekend shopping and gossiping. Seamus stepped inside tentatively, eyes scanning the crowd for the blond head of his husband but could not find it anywhere. The crowd, the colours, the atmosphere were all making his head spin and Seamus felt like he was about to cry yet again, because it was just too overwhelming to be back here after all he's been through.

For a moment he even forgot why he even came to the Alley, and just started to wonder about, going from shop to shop, each window display bringing back so many memories.

Eventually he found himself standing in front of "Quidditch Quality Supplies" the shop that was most popular amongst the children. There were always several of them loitering about, faces pressed against the glass and excited voices talking of the newest race broom models. Seamus pressed his forehead to the cool glass and sighed deep- it was time to go, it's been a complete waste of time and a very dangerous stunt to pull, coming here like that. Seamus has just made up his mind to leave when he heard an excitable voice coming close rapidly,

"Daddy look, bwooms! Humph…" The little boy cried as he collided square with Seamus' shins and toppled backwards. Seamus winced at the pain and immediately squatted to inspect the damage. The boy looked a little disoriented but otherwise unharmed and Seamus sighed in relief, the last thing he needed right now was to cause a scene in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"Are you alright, Tiny?" Within seconds the boy was engulfed in a tight embrace and Seamus pulled back, slightly embarrassed,

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to hurt him, he just ran into me…" He mumbled without lifting his head,

"Seamus?" Seamus' head flew up and he stared completely bewildered into the grey eyes of the man in front of him, his throat constricting once more,

"D-Draco?" Draco rose to his feet, placing the toddler on his hip and Seamus rose slowly as well, the tone of voice Draco used and the coldness in his eyes told Seamus that he'd have to work extremely hard to regain his lover's trust. He racked his hand in his hair, desperately trying to think of something to say, "How… How have you been?" The blond man in front of him snorted in disbelief,

"I'm fine."

"Hmm, congratulations… for the new marriage I mean." Seamus nearly chocked on the words, feeling like a heavy rock was put in the place of his heart dragging him down.

"I didn't remarry." Seamus nodded slightly, eyes fixed on Draco, trying to memorize every last line in those face not sure when he'd be able to see his loved one again. He then turned his gaze to the little boy on Draco's hip, his little head was resting on Draco's shoulder and he was sucking his thumb quietly. He looked a lot like Draco Seamus mused, except that his hair was a little too dark- more wheat coloured than flaxen, his eyes had a bluer hue to them and he had little freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks as if someone dusted him with brown sugar. "What are you doing here?"

"I- I don't know, I shouldn't have come…" Seamus was a little taken back by the coldness radiating from Draco and bowed his head in shame, completely missing the hurt flash that crossed the granite eyes,

"Very well, then if you don't mind, we'd be on our way." Draco swept past Seamus, back straight and head held high and headed back towards the pub. Seamus wanted to call after him, make him stop. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he needed to find out- most importantly who was the child. But before he could gather his wits about him the two disappeared and he was left standing alone in the middle of the Alley, people bumping into him without him noticing. It seemed to be hours before Seamus could bring himself to move, and when he finally did it was sluggishly and carelessly.

Once outside the 'Leaky Cauldron' Seamus turned to get back to his hotel, his mind still trying to process what had happened, but unable to get past the fact that he saw Draco, and spoke to him- albeit not any of the words he so desperately wanted to say. He walked into the tube station and tried to compose himself, blend in with the crowd of muggles on the platform, a trait he'd perfected while in hiding but somehow he was unable to execute today. Seamus felt exposed, naked to the world as if every one of those people were looking straight into his soul and condemning him for the pain he caused Draco.

By the time Seamus reached back to his hotel room he was a complete wreck emotionally. He walked over to the phone and asked the room service for a large bottle of whiskey to dull his pain in. his insides were bubbling like a volcano, his entire body was shaking like an earthquake- Seamus felt all the sadness, the terror that were burdening him for years now, all the sorrow, all the guilt that were like a scorching mass buried in his chest and trying to claw its way out.

A knock was heard on the door and Seamus heaved himself off the floor, hoping beyond hope that it was the booze that was arriving. He flung the door open and was about to scold the waiter for his tardiness when he found himself face to face with the man he just seen in Diagon Alley. Seamus stood gob-smacked and looked at Draco in shock, while the other man was getting more and more restless and even began to tap his foot impatiently on the floor,

"Well, are you going to invite me in or am I going to have to stand here at the door like some sort of plebeian?" He snapped and Seamus moved back in some sort of daze and let Draco stride into the room, wrinkling his nose at the shabby wallpaper, the little child was still straddling his hip, now nearly sleeping. "Can I put him down for a bit while we talk?" Seamus nodded dumbly and watched as Draco put his son to sleep in the large double bed that dominated the room. His manner with the child was so soft and affectionate that Seamus had to avert his eyes lest he burst in tears again.

"Sir, your whiskey…" Draco straightened from the bedside and walked briskly towards the young man that was standing at the door looking sideways at the bewildered Seamus, "Is he alright?"

"He's fine. Thank you for the alcohol, you're free to go." Draco said with a smile as he took the bottle and then grabbed the doorknob out of Seamus' lax grasp and practically shot the door in the poor waiter's face, when he turned to Irishman he saw that Seamus was still in his trans-like state so he snapped his fingers under Seamus' nose which made the latter jump, "Oi, Finnigan! Look alive, we need to talk."

Seamus walked slowly over to the couple of squashy armchairs on the other side of the room where Draco already sat filling two tumblers with the clear amber liquid, and gingerly lowered himself into the other chair, eyes focused on Draco as if afraid that he might vanish if Seamus wasn't paying a close attention,

"How did you find me?" He asked hoarsely as he accepted the glass handed to him,

"Tracking spell." Draco answered shortly, "So, care to tell me why you left me two days after our wedding without saying a word?" Seamus nearly chocked on the whiskey he just imbibed, trust Draco not to beat around the bush too long when he wanted answers,

"I… something… came up, I had to go…" He mumbled, eyes downcast on his drink, cheeks flushing red with guilt at the lie,

"And this something took you three bloody years to finish?" Seamus shrugged, "Fuck, Seamus don't lie to me! You left me without a fucking word! Not one word, not even a bloody note and I'm suppose to believe that you just had 'business'?" The venom in Draco's voice was cutting deeper than any of the wounds inflicted three and a half years ago and Seamus cringed inwardly,

"Well, you seemed to have kept yourself quite busy without me!" Seamus pointed at the bed with his tumbler, indicating the sleeping boy in it,

"Yes, I have been busy, raising _your_ son while you were off doing Merlin knows what!" Draco retorted hotly, effectively silencing Seamus. Seamus' eyes flickered from Draco to the bed, his son, _his_ _child_… How was that possible… he bit his lip and rose from the chair, walking to the bed to get a better look at the toddler. The little boy was so much like Draco that it was quite astonishing but now that he had a proper look Seamus could see the little details that made the boy different, the freckles for one thing- as Draco loved to boast, Malfoys didn't have freckles. Finnigans on the other hand had them in abundance. Seamus thought he could see something of his own in the chin and the delicate arch of the boy's lips, but it still didn't explain things…

"Mine? How…" He gulped and tried to blink back tears again, only this time they were tears of joy, undiluted, exuberant joy that was pumping through his veins like fire.

"Funny that," Draco started, swirling the drink in his glass and refusing to look at Seamus, "I never got around to tell you that bit, but I'm part Veela on my mother side and well… we're fertile." He finished somewhat sheepishly, refusing to meet Seamus' incredulous look,

"Fertile… You knew you could get pregnant and you never told me?" Seamus tried to summon all his righteous anger, at having being lied to but he couldn't help but smile as his eyes fell on the little boy again, his son, his little baby. He had a son!

"There wasn't a real need to ever tell you, I always used contraceptive charm to prevent that from happening." Draco tossed his hair back and fixed Seamus with a cool gaze which the Irishman returned without blinking until Draco seemed to deflate a little, "Well, except for that one time… On our wedding night, I was a smidgen tipsy and I might have forgotten." He finished haughtily, his pointed nose up in the air, Seamus couldn't help but grin at the picture his husband made,

"He's mine…" He whispered and brushed a few strands of hair out of the sleeping boy's eyes and smiled softly, "What's his name?"

"Sage Draco Finnigan-Malfoy."

"Sage? Like the herb?" Draco closed his eyes as if pained,

"No, Sage like a wise person." He nearly barked and Seamus turned to look at the toddler again completely unfazed, drinking in the sight of the innocence and sheer beauty of the boy, inhaling the clean child scent. Seamus felt transfixed, he couldn't seem to be able to tear his eyes away, this was so much more than he ever expected, more than he ever dreamt of and deep down Seamus knew that whatever would happen from then on, he'd never leave again, not willingly. This time he had more to fight for, more to lose.

"He was born on the 23 of August 2003, he should be three years old in a month and a half." Draco said quietly, moving the kneel besides Seamus, watching their son with a soft smile,

"That's just a week after my birthday." Seamus breathed out and felt the tears prickling his eyes again, this is the best birthday gift anyone could receive and he missed it for so long, missed so much of his son's life- his first steps, first word, first laugh. The tears were running down his cheeks, unstopping and he made to brush them off but new ones came just as fast. Draco watched the way Seamus seemed to break apart at the sight of his son and felt his heart twisting painfully. He planed on being angry, on yelling and cursing and making things unbearable for Seamus for leaving them but seeing the way the Irishman reacted to the simple knowledge that Sage was his, Draco realised that Seamus' leaving had much more to it than just cold feet and he was determined to find out the truth, so that they could finally move on and be the family they should have been three and a half years ago.

"Come on," He said briskly and rose to his feet, Seamus lifted his head and gave Draco a puzzled look from under his messy fringe, "This place is simply atrocious, so we're going to go home where you can explain everything to me and then spend some time with Sage, if you wish." Draco finished a little uncertain, all of a sudden worried that Seamus wouldn't want to follow him. After all, he did practically barge into the man's room without an invitation and started to hurl accusations.

"Alright." Draco breathed a mental sigh of relief. He walked over to the table to retrieve both his bag and the bottle of whiskey, handing them to Seamus before bending to pick up the sleeping boy carefully.

"He still got an hour and a half before I have to wake him up." He explained and Seamus nodded, not sure what to do with himself. He desperately wanted to wrap his arms around his little family but he wasn't sure the gesture would be appreciated by Draco. "Put your arms around Sage and I'll apparate us back home." He instructed and Seamus complied quickly. He felt the tug behind his naval and then that horrible feeling of being sucked through a tube that was two sizes too small when the side-along apparition was in motion. Before Seamus had time to get accustomed to the uneasiness the feeling ended and he opened his eyes to find himself in the living room of a small two story town-house.

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**A/N:** I'm not the biggest fan of creature!Draco stories, but I needed a quick fix for the pregnancy to be believable (as much as Mpreg can be believable of course…), so Draco is only a teeny tiny bit Veela, let's just say it's the important bit... 


	2. 2 of 6

The living room of the little town-house was cheerful looking and specious, colourful toys were scattered everywhere and the chairs and sofas looked well used. For a second Seamus thought they've landed in the wrong house because surely the prissy and uptight Draco Malfoy would never let his house look like the upgraded version of the Burrow, but then he saw Draco move around the place and realized how much his husband had changed. Draco didn't seemed to mind the mess at all, and he hitched the sleeping Sage higher on his hip before turning to Seamus,

"I'm going to put him in bed, you want to come?" Seamus didn't waste a second and followed Draco up the stairs to the small landing which had four doors, "This door is the guest room," Draco pointed to the farthest door, "This is the bathroom and next to it is Sage's room." He pointed and walked towards the door he claimed to be the nursery. Seamus flicked his gaze to the fourth door, the one Draco said nothing of and was obviously his bedroom and tried not to think of how much he wanted to open it and take a peek inside. Instead he followed Draco into the most extraordinary room. It wasn't very big but every inch of the walls was covered with beautiful paintings, making the room seem like some sort of pre-historic landscape. Painted on the walls were dinosaurs and ferns, smoking volcanoes and wet swamps and the whole ambience of the room was that of a small child that loved big creatures.

"Sage is crazy about dinosaurs. Not dragons, dinosaurs…" Draco said with a heavy sigh, "I think it's appalling." He complained cheerfully and Seamus smiled. Draco lowered Sage into his little bed and tucked him lovingly. The boy wriggled a little to get comfortable but didn't wake. When Draco straightened up again he fixed Seamus with a stern glare, "Now it's explanations time." Seamus wrapped his arms around himself in self-defence, he knew that this moment would come but wished he could postpone it as much as possible. He'd be happy to stay here and watch the boy sleep, his boy. He didn't think he could ever get over this marvel, the fact that he had a son.

Seamus followed Draco downstairs and into the kitchen. The kitchen was just as small and snugly as the rest of the house and Seamus could easily imagine Draco and Sage having their meals at the round table, laughing together. He gingerly sat himself in one of the chairs and watched Draco bustle around the kitchen making tea, noticing how easy and sure his movements were. When Seamus left, Draco wasn't even apt to lift his wand to heat the water up and now he was looking like a merry house-wife. Draco placed a steaming mug in front of Seamus and added a splash of whiskey to it before he took a seat on the other side of the table, cupping his own spiked tea mug.

"Two sugars and lots of milk, just like you used to take it." Draco said softly and Seamus smiled,

"You remembered."

"Of course I remembered," Draco scoffed, but without malice,

"Well, you never used to make me tea before so I wasn't sure you would remember." Seamus flashed him a hearty grin which was returned with a small chuckle. They drank their tea in silence for a while, each waiting for the other to start the conversation, until Draco lost his patience,

"So, tell me, why did you leave?" Seamus fixed his eyes on the steaming mug, as if his tea held the answers to Draco's question,

"I had to."

"Had to?" Seamus nodded, trying to brace himself for what was to come, he knew he had to tell Draco the truth, Draco deserved to know it, but the truth is exactly the reason Seamus ran away in the first place… "Where did you go?"

"It doesn't matter, you'll just have to trust me baby- I can't tell you anything." Seamus pleaded and lifted his eyes to see Draco's nostrils flare, uh-oh, not a good sign,

"Trust you? After you left without a word, you come back here and still refuse to say where you've been and I'm suppose to _trust _you? I don't think so Finnigan!" He snarled and leaned forward in his chair, "I'm not against using force to get what I want, now tell me!" Seamus' eyes grew wide at Draco's words and the way his face were hardening, he gulped and clutched his mug tight, for a second Draco looked so much like Lucius and that scared Seamus more that he was willing to admit.

"I… they made me leave, I did it for you Draco, to keep you safe." He mumbled, still transfixed by the transformation of Draco when the blond man's face crumbled in surprise and confusion, once again becoming the face of the man Seamus loved,

"Keep me safe? From what? And who are 'they'?" Seamus rubbed his forehead and then splayed his fingers straight on the table top, watching the ten digits and trying to ignore Draco's annoyed huff at his transparent attempt to stall for time.

"I can't tell you." Draco took a deep breath to stifle the scream that was clawing to get out of his throat, he knew that Seamus was a stubborn git, but in the last three and a half years he had managed to convince himself otherwise. "Look, Draco, I shouldn't have come here, I didn't mean to cause troubles. I better go." He started to rise when Draco's cold voice stopped him short,

"Sit. Down!" Draco took a deep breath and tried again, knowing that Seamus' Gryffindor nature wouldn't let him lie and evade the truth for long, "Who's been threatening you?" Seamus refused to meet his gaze and started fidgeting even more than before,

"I… it's… I'm sorry…" He muttered, face constricting with pain and suddenly Draco knew the answer without being told,

"Oh, bugger! Oh, fuck." He swore under his breath and moved his seat closer to Seamus. "It's him isn't it?" Without lifting his head Seamus nodded, and Draco sprang to his feet and started pacing the length of the kitchen, "Lucius Bloody Malfoy!"

"I'm sorry." Seamus mumbled again, and Draco took his seat again and put a comforting hand over Seamus',

"What did he do? Tell me what happened, please." Seamus raised his head and Draco could see the eyes glistening with tears,

"Your father and I have a very interesting relationship, you see, He barks and I refuse to step down and then he bites, hard, and I flee the country." Seamus chuckled dryly and humourlessly. Draco bit his lip and pulled Seamus into his arms, hugging him tight. Seamus let himself be pulled into his husband's arms, this is what he wanted, for the last three and a half years this is all he's been dreaming of. The feel of those arms around him simply broke him and he couldn't nor wanted to stop the tears from falling. Draco softly rocked him, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear until he felt the worst of the storm passing, then he lifted the pliant and emotionally exhausted Seamus from his chair and led him over to the living room and sat them both on the sofa, offering Seamus a box of tissues.

Seamus tried to smile, feeling a little embarrassed at his breakdown but at the same time quite happy that Draco wasn't too mad at him. He wiped his face and nose and took a deep breath, phase one was over but now came the really hard part- telling Draco what exactly happened. He worried his lip for a while, trying to find the right words,

"I… Do you remember that evening, two days after our wedding, when I went back to mine to grab some clothes?" He asked tentatively, trying to ease into things, Draco nodded, of course he remembered that night, it was the last time he saw his husband before today, "Well, when I got to my flat the place was… it was shattered, a complete mess. Each bloody furniture was broken, just smashed into splinters- they even tore away the wall paper!" Draco took deep breaths trying to calm himself, because he could feel the bubble of hate and rage towards his father rising again, worse than ever. Ever since his husband left Lucius ignored him completely, both financially and otherwise. Just when Draco needed help the most, with his pregnancy and then the little baby, the only family he had left turned his back on him.

"I didn't even have time to take it all in, there were three men standing there, in the middle of the wreckage and one Lucius Malfoy. He told me to leave you," Seamus shrugged and fiddled with the tissue in his hand, eyes fixed on the white square of thin paper, as if it held all the answers, "I told him that I would never do that, that I loved you and you loved me. He laughed… He said that you were just using me for sex and that no Malfoy would ever fall in love with a filthy half-blood. And then I really stuck my foot in my mouth and told him that we got married," Seamus gave another humourless chuckle, "Gods, you should have seen his face then, he was so mad… before I could even get my wand out he cursed me with 'Crucio' and told me that our marriage was null and void and that if I didn't leave right there and then he'd come after you. I told him I didn't believe him, that he couldn't keep us apart or undue our marriage. Well, that sure sent him round the bend…" Seamus paused in his speech and pulled his knees to his chest, he rubbed his forehead and tried to blink tears away, even though those were not his memories anymore he still felt mortified by what has been done to him, by his father-in-low no less. He felt Draco's hand slip into his and squeezed the warm fingers in thanks. Drawing strength from Draco he continued his story,

"He cast a full-body-bind on me and barked at his men to take me to the bedroom. When we got there I found out that the bastard had trashed that room as well, but left the bed intact though… he shredded every piece of clothe I had, every memory I had of you but he left the bed in one piece… the bed that we first made love in… The three men tossed me on the bed and then they…" Seamus' voice caught in his throat and he had to swallow a couple of times before he could say another word, "They… took turns… it felt like forever, they just wouldn't stop and I couldn't do anything to stop them!"

The tears were now flowing freely again, and Seamus' entire body was shaking uncontrollably, Draco clenched his jaw, his eyes watering as well as he pulled Seamus close to him, trying to ease away the pain his husband was feeling. This was so wrong, so unbelievably wrong- he never thought that Lucius would sink so low in order to hurt him, but he should have known better. The sadistic bastard that was his father, the famous Death Eater, the Dark Lord's right hand man… How could he ever think that his father would show mercy, compassion to his own son. But to go after the man he loved, to break him down so wholly that Seamus fled the country without a word and had to live with this horror for almost four years, all alone in Merlin knows where was more than Draco could bear. He swore to himself that Lucius would pay, Draco had suffered enough for Narcissa's death and it was about time Lucius would understand that Draco had nothing to do with it!

"What happened then? Where did you go?" He asked in a hoarse voice,

"He stood there and watched, with that little smirk on his face. He didn't care one bit about what would happen to me! He just stood there and watched them beat me up and r… rape me." Seamus spat out the word, as if saying it out loud made it happen all over again, "When they were finally done, he sent them away. Then he approached the bed and told me very clearly that if I set one foot anywhere near you again, he's going to do the same to you and then he just apparated away. I couldn't even think of the possibility that someone would touch you, not like this, not because of me. It took me about three hours but I finally managed to move, my entire body was sore and aching and there was blood everywhere. Fuck, I didn't even have something to cover myself with, all my clothes have been torn to pieces not big enough to be rags! I somehow managed to find enough floo powder and landed naked and bleeding on Hermione's hearth. She was shocked I can tell you that!" Draco nuzzled the side of Seamus' face and the Irishman leaned into the touch. He was tiered, so tiered. He never realized that telling his story to someone else would take so much out of him.

"She was brilliant, she healed me and took care of me. It took me three days to be able to just sit and another three before I could walk, there were so many bones in my body that needed mending. By the end of that week I was back to myself physically but I was a complete mess emotionally. I couldn't sleep, even dreamless potion hardly worked anymore, I wouldn't speak to anyone, didn't dare to leave the house- hell, the room I was in. I hardly ate and I kept seeing those men at every turn, even in shadows on the wall. I had my wand with me every single second, Hermione learned after the first day to announce herself before entering my room or I'll hex her without a thought. I asked her to keep my whereabouts a secret, I couldn't risk you finding me and then a word would travel back to your father. I don't know if he watched me then, I didn't really care as long as you were safe. When I was fit enough again Hermione made me put the memories of that night in a pensieve, and then watch them."

"What?" Draco nearly jumped from his seat, damn that stupid woman! After Seamus finally got rid of the horrible memories she made him _watch_ them? Relive the horror again? Sadistic bastard of a fucking Gryffindor… Seamus watched the array of emotions playing on Draco's face and nearly smiled, he felt his heart swell with love for his husband for being so angry at Hermione on his behalf, but still he couldn't just let Draco loose on her,

"It was the right thing to do, love. I could never forget what happened, I didn't want to. But this way it was more like… a bad dream or something- I knew what happened and I knew how it played out but I didn't _feel_ it anymore… I mean, it was no longer part of me." Seamus tried to explain desperately, suddenly wishing that Hermione was here to explain this in a way that made sense. "I still have the memory with me, I carry it wherever I go, just so I won't forget." He pulled out a small glass vial from his pocket and showed it to Draco. Before he could put it back in his pocket though Draco grabbed his hand and took the vial,

"I want to see it." He stated firmly, his jaw set and his eyes hard, Seamus shook his head, "Please, baby, I need to see what happened." Seamus eyes were swimming in tears again,

"No, please Draco, I… I don't want you to see it. Not yet." He begged. Draco looked into the pleading blue eyes and released Seamus' hand,

"Alright. But you will show me one day!" Seamus gave him a slight nod and pocketed the memory again.

"When I left Hermione I made her take a wizard's oath not to tell anyone what happened to me. I couldn't risk hurting more people. I took the first international portkey out of England and ended up in Australia. I spent the last three years, seven months and nine days running from place to place. I knew he was watching me, he never made a secret out of it, sending men to watch over my steps, try and stop me if I was trying to return here. I went muggle, working odd jobs here and there just trying to get by."

"Why did you come back now?"

"My father got ill, very ill and I decided to go back to Ireland to be with him. The funny bit is, I wasn't being watched here. I guess Lucius was so certain of his intimidating tactics that he didn't think I'd be foolish enough to return. I didn't mean to come here, I really didn't but just the thought of seeing you again, that slim chance was more than I could afford to pass on." Draco nodded and tried to smile, squashing the little irrational pang of disappointment at the thought that Seamus didn't come back to England for him.

"Are you going back to Australia?" He asked quietly, his eyes fixed on their entwined fingers,

"No." Seamus replied, "There's nothing for me there. Draco, I'm sorry I didn't say anything, I'm sorry I left so suddenly, but you have to understand that I did it for you…" He tried to plea but Draco held his free hand up,

"No, forget it, it doesn't matter anymore. Whatever the reason you left is not important. What's important now is that you're back and you're staying with us." He said with all the confidence of someone used to getting his own way. Seamus couldn't help but smile a little, apparently Draco hasn't changed _that _much over the years.

"So, what do we do now?" Draco gave him a long look, brushing aside stray hairs that clung to Seamus' wet cheeks, before he reached for his wand and spelled the blotchiness of Seamus' skin and the puffiness of his eyes away.

"First we're going to wake Sage up otherwise he won't sleep tonight. Then you are going to play with him and get to know him while I make us something to eat." He said with his best cheerful tone, the one he always used around Sage when things got a little too much but he didn't want to upset his son. Seamus nodded and followed him back to their son's room, where Draco proceeded to gently wake the sleeping boy. Sage proved rather resilient in the face of his father's attempts and when Draco shot a rather accusatory glare at Seamus, the latter grinned sheepishly, secretly proud that Sage had inherited at least one of his trades, even if it was his uncanny ability to sleep.

When Sage finally woke up and was dressed and ready for the rest of his day Draco took him downstairs and sat him on the sofa. Seamus followed slowly, thoughts scattering in million directions, what if Sage didn't like him, what if he rejected him as a father, what if he, Seamus sucked at being one- after all he never thought about kids before, not until the biological evidence was presented before him. He rubbed his sweaty palms in his trousers repeatedly and tried to take deep calming breaths that only left him gasping and dizzy with oxygen deficiency. When he entered the living room he saw Draco and Sage sitting on the sofa, looking happy and relaxed, and Seamus felt more out of place than before. The way Draco carried on around his son was so gentle and caring, something that Seamus never thought his husband capable of. The younger version of Draco Malfoy, the one he left behind all those years ago was not what you might call a parental material. In fact, Seamus could distinctly remember more than one occasion when Draco actually intimidated little kids to the point of tears. But now Draco was a father himself and Seamus figured that carrying a baby for nine months and then having to care for him would turn anyone parental.

"Sage, love, I want you to meet someone." Draco started when Seamus sat on a nearby armchair, smiling nervously and trying not to fidget too much. Draco sent him a reassuring smile and Seamus did his best to look like he fitted there and not like he was some creepy new boyfriend that Sage was bound to hate. "You remember I told you about your other daddy?" Sage nodded vigorously, his eyes never leaving Draco, "Well, this is him. I want you to say hello to Seamus, your father." Sage scooted closer to Draco before turning his gaze and looking at Seamus. Seamus gave him a bright smile and a small wave,

"Hi, Sage, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Sage didn't return the smile right away, he first swapped his gaze all over Seamus, his grey-blue eyes as piercing as Draco's. But eventually he seemed satisfied with what he saw and grinned wide,

"Hello." Seamus nearly collapsed with relief, only then realizing how tight he was holding himself for the scrutiny of three years old. He sagged back in his chair and smiled wide.

"Sage, why don't you take Seamus upstairs and show him your toys while I make us dinner, ok?" Seamus was quite impressed by the fact that Draco talked to his son as an equal, without any coquetry or high-pitched voices that people normally adopted around small children. Sage nodded again and jumped from the sofa, coming to a halt in front of Seamus and held out his little hand,

"You like dinosaurs?" He asked in a serious tone, brows slightly drawn together and Seamus knew this was his right of passage,

"I love them." He said truthfully, as a kid he was simply fascinated with them, and now that he thought about it, this was probably another trait that Sage got from him,

"Daddy thinks they're boring." Sage complained as Seamus took his hand and he started to pull the man behind him towards the stairs. Seamus tossed a glance at Draco who smiled back at him and mouthed 'you're doing great'. Seamus followed Sage back to his room, all the while Sage kept telling him about dinosaurs and other things that Seamus didn't understand since Sage's speech wasn't perfect yet and he kept messing up words and, Seamus suspected, making some of them up.

They settled comfortably on the floor while Sage showed Seamus his favourite toys, mostly dinosaur related of course and taught him a few games. Seamus soon found out that his son might have gotten his love for dinosaurs from him but his bossy attitude was pure Draco. He simply couldn't get past that little jutting of the chin whenever Seamus did something that Sage didn't like- it was identical to the expression Draco wore when things didn't go his way.

When about thirty minutes later Draco walked up the stairs to call them down to dinner he found Seamus and Sage laying on their stomachs, having a rather animated dinosaur battle laughing their heads off. Draco leaned on the doorframe for a few moments just taking it all in, lately he's began to question the faith of Seamus returning and Sage ever knowing him. Draco never made a secret out of Sage sire's identity, not to his son and not to the world but it was a long way from showing Sage old pictures of Seamus to having the actual man around.

"Who's hungry?" He called when he saw the battle coming to an end when Sage still clutching his dinosaur plushie pounced on Seamus and started tickling him. The two flushed faced blonds on the floor looked up in surprise to hear Draco's voice before Sage jumped to his feet,

"Me!" He cried and rushed to the door and tried to duck under Draco's arm, but his father was ready for him and caught him easily, swinging him through the air,

"Not so fast Tiny! First you're going to pack this mess up and then you're going to wash your hands." Sage gave him a fierce pout, which Draco bravely ignored and placed his son back on the floor. Sage ran back to the pile of toys and started to shove them back in their basket as fast as he could while Seamus and Draco watched the little tornado with amusement. Before long the room has retained a resemblance of tidiness and Sage sprinted towards the bathroom to wash his hands while Draco flicked his wand almost lazily and brought the room together properly. The three made their way down the stairs rather messily, laughing and pocking and tickling each other.

When Seamus entered the kitchen he could hardly believe his eyes- the table was set for dinner and there were delicious smells wafting from the stove. He stood stock still and bewildered, if he had not known better he could have sworn that Draco was hiding a house-elf to do the cooking and cleaning around but since neither Draco nor Sage mentioned one he was forced to reach the conclusion that Draco must have learned how to cook.

"Having a kid makes you learn quite a lot of things you never thought you would." Draco whispered in Seamus' ear as he passed him on the way into the kitchen, heading to tie a little bib around Sage's neck. Seamus took his seat and was quite lost for words. This is the perfect life he should have been living for near four years now, instead of running for his life. The feel of regret was burdening heavy on him again when he watched Draco give Sage a big sloppy kiss that made the toddler giggle. Seamus wanted more than anything to wrap his arms around both of them and hold them tight, but he stayed where he was.

They ate in relative silence, broken only by Sage's endless chatter about random things while the grown-ups kept mostly to themselves. Seamus was mightily surprised at how good the food tasted, a simple vegetable stir-fry and white rice, but the casserole was flavoured with many spices he did not recognise but blended together beautifully to create a rich taste.

When dinner was over Draco asked Sage if he'd like Seamus to give him his bath. Seamus looked up startled at the offer; as much as he wanted to spend time with Sage giving him a bath was making Seamus cringe with fright. What if he managed to drown the kid? Draco would flat out kill him! Granted Sage was rather too big to be drowned so easily but there was an endless list of perils involving a three years old child and a bath full of water. Sage, on the other hand, jumped on the offer and once again dragged Seamus behind him to show him his bath toys.

When Draco finally finished cleaning the kitchen and went upstairs to see what was going on in the bath he found his husband and son clearly having the time of their life, drawing on the tile with Sage's water crayons. Seamus' whole front was soaked with water and Sage looked even dirtier than he was before entering the bath- covered nearly from head to toe in colours. Draco had a hard time trying to suppress his grin but he did his best,

"What on earth is going on here?" He cried and both of them jumped and turned, flashing him a near identical sheepish grins. Draco rolled his eyes, not knowing whether to hug or scold them. In the end he settled for kneeling next to Seamus and reaching his hand forward with a commanding glance. Seamus and Sage placed their crayons in Draco's outstretched hand looking quite guilty. He put them aside and proceeded to wash Sage clean. Seamus watched in awe the way Draco made every task seem so easy, while Seamus had a hard time trying to not to succumb to his childish nature.

When Sage was finally clean enough for Draco's satisfaction he ordered Seamus to clean the bath while he wrapped the giggling and squirming Sage in a big towel and carried him to his room. When Seamus finished Sage returned to the bathroom already in a pair of bright green footed pyjamas and climbed the little stool he pulled from under the sink and grabbed his toothbrush. Seamus obediently applied toothpaste on it and watched as his son brushed his teeth a little awkwardly but enthusiastically. After finishing he reached his little arms to Seamus in a plea to be picked up. Seamus nearly sobbed when Sage asked him to carry him back to his room and he held him tight against his body, feeling the soft skin against his and the warmth of his little body pressed against his side.

Together Seamus and Draco tucked Sage in, and gave him a goodnight kiss, before turning the lights off and exiting the room, Seamus still sporting a huge goofy grin at the kiss Sage gave him. Standing outside Sage's room he suddenly felt nervous, what was he to do next? Should he thank Draco for the great afternoon and be on his way? Should he presume he was welcome to stay a bit longer? He started shuffling his feet nervously, ducking his head and trying to send furtive looks at Draco at the same time. From under his fringe Seamus concluded that Draco looked just as nervous as he felt, which wasn't helping Seamus much.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm for shit when it comes to baby talk… So if you know any three years old kids than just imagine how they talk when Sage speaks. 


	3. 3 of 6

"Well, I guess I should get going…" Seamus lifted his head to see the coldness taking over Draco's eyes again and sighed, "I… It's been great seeing you. Thanks for letting me meet Sage." He prattled on and it was only the caustic look in Draco's eyes that kept him from reaching out his hand for a shake. Draco didn't seem much impressed with his husband's antics and casually leaned against the closed nursery door, crossing his arms over his chest,

"So, that's it? You're going to disappear for another three years?" He drawled menacingly, annoyed and hurt by the fact that Seamus didn't take the first move to repair their relationship. What happened downstairs before, Seamus telling his story was a catalytic and bonding moment, sure, but there was still much to do before he could completely forgive his husband and take him in wholly. But staying the night over was defiantly a start, only Seamus didn't seem to think so! "Running away when it's time for the real work… How very _Gryffindor _of you!" He snarled and Seamus cringed at the acid dripping from Draco's voice, this wasn't fair, what was he suppose to do? Force himself on Draco? Invite himself to stay over? Even if Draco did consent for him to spend the night over Seamus didn't want to pass it on a strange bed in his husband's guest room.

"Draco… what do you want from me?" He pleaded helplessly, trying in vain to decipher the signs he was getting. He was never very good at reading people; he always left that job to Draco, trusting his judgment. Draco gave Seamus a critical look, running from his distraught face to his unsure posture and decided to take pity of him,

"You could stay the night." Seamus wanted to grab his head and yell as loud as he could, this was so unfair, Draco can't do this to him, play with him like this!

"In your guest room?" He tried his best snarl, but they both knew it was weak.

"In my bed." Draco deadpanned and caught Seamus off guard. The Irishman looked at him gaping and lost for words, which pleased Draco very much. He pushed himself off the door he was leaning against and walked over to his husband casually. Draco caught Seamus' wrist and with a sultry smile he dragged him behind him, leading the way to the door on the other side of the landing. Seamus went after him compliantly, his heart soaring with joy but his body language relinquishing control to Draco. This was Draco's move, his invitation and Seamus wasn't about to do anything to compromise the chance he got to reunite with his spouse after so long.

Once inside his bedroom Draco pushed Seamus against the closed door and proceeded to do what he'd wanted to do since he first saw Seamus in Diagon Alley this morning- he kissed him. The familiarity of it all made Seamus' head spin and nearly brought tears to his eyes, because even after three and a half years Draco could still ignite the same fire in him with the simplest of touches and right now he was in heaven, or nearing the pearly gates rapidly, anyway.

"Gods, I missed that…" Draco murmured against Seamus' lips when they broke apart, and Seamus nodded his assent. Far too long, "It's been quite a while you know, Three years, seven months and nine days in fact." Draco said with a small chuckle and Seamus nodded again,

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." He breathed and tried to plunge in for another kiss but Draco pushed himself back to arm-length, quirking up a pale eyebrow,

"I'd have thought that you left a trail of broken hearts at every town you passed." He teased Seamus, breathing a mental sigh of relief when Seamus snorted with laughter,

"Hardly! Even if I wasn't running for my life there wasn't anyone else I ever wanted." He purred at Draco and the latter simply melted. Soon their kisses became more and more frantic and they started tugging at each other's clothes, as if suddenly realizing actually how long it has been.

Soon they were both naked and panting, standing in front of each other and blushing. Seamus felt uncertain again, but when his eyes swept down Draco's naked form displayed proudly in front of him, he forgot all about his nervousness and reached forward to pull the blond man back to him, eager to feel him against his own skin.

Draco's throaty laughter at Seamus' eagerness vibrated through their kiss and he wrapped his arms around Seamus' waist, kneading the supple flesh of his arse. Seamus groaned and released Draco, looking deep into those quicksilver eyes that were darkening with lust before he slowly fell to his knees, eyes travelling up to hold Draco's gaze. Draco stood breathless for a moment, feeling so overwhelmed by his own feelings. Then Seamus' eyes left his own and he felt like he could breathe a little easier, until he felt his husband's breath ghosting over his most sensitive parts. Violent shivers ran through Draco's body, and Seamus could feel them in the hands that were still holding Draco's bum, but he didn't relinquish his hold, not wanting to lose contact with that amazing body. Almost dazedly he moved forward and opened his mouth, wrapping his lips softly around the head of Draco's cock; the taste and texture were assaulting his senses and he closed his eyes hoping he won't pass out from the sensorial overload.

"Merlin…" Draco nearly whimpered, his legs were barely supporting him anymore. He wondered if he was feeling like a virgin teenager again because it's been so long since he last had sex or because it was Seamus he was having sex with at the moment. Although he didn't have many lovers before he and Seamus hooked up, deep down he knew it must be Seamus that was making him feel this way- none of his other lovers could ever bring him to such a fine edge so soon and so strongly.

Seamus took his time to get reacquainted with Draco's throbbing member. Closing his eyes and inhaling his beloved's scent he began to move his lips slowly as he sucked Draco's cock into his mouth inch by inch. His tongue felt the thick vein on the underside of that gorgeous shaft and he found his rhythm and began to work his way towards bringing Draco to completion. Draco weaved his fingers through the dark wheat coloured hair and looked down at the head that was bobbing in his lap. He felt the prickle of grateful tears in his eyes and shut them tight, not wanting to break apart in front of Seamus. The sure mouth around him and the fact that he missed it for so long were undoing Draco rather fast and soon he was crying his release, biting his lip hard and trying to remain quiet, some sensible corner of his mind reminding him that he hadn't put up a silencing charm and the last thing he wanted was to have Sage barging in at the sound of his father's cries only to find his parents having sex.

When Seamus pulled back, throat still working on swallowing the last of his spouse's seed, Draco all but collapsed in his arms, his weakened knees finally giving away. Seamus wrapped his arms around Draco and rained his face with small kisses. It took Draco a couple of moments to recover before he could summon the lubricant to him. As much as he enjoyed the blowjob, he needed something more; he needed to feel Seamus inside him, as soon as possible. He trusted the tube into Seamus' hand and lowered himself into the carpeted floor, spreading his legs around Seamus in an inviting smile.

Seamus leaned forward and captured Draco's lips in a soft kiss, propping himself on his elbows flush against Draco. He broke the kiss in order to see what he was doing as he opened the tube of lubricant and squeezed a generous dollop on his fingers, before bringing his hand down and resuming the kiss. He found his prize, the rosette of muscles that was quivering with anticipation and he gently pushed his finger inside. Draco cringed and fidgeted a little, no longer used to the feeling of breeching and Seamus stilled his hand, allowing Draco time to get accustomed to the intrusion. When Draco nodded Seamus started working his finger in and out, his whole body ever tuned to Draco's reactions, while he added another finger and then another. Seamus couldn't believe on himself how much control he possessed, it was a real struggle not to take his fingers out and shove his cock into Draco's tight passage as he so desperately wanted, but on the other hand, he wanted Draco to enjoy himself as well. Seamus was never a selfish lover and Draco adored being pampered and taken care of.

"It's ok, love, I'm ready." Draco whispered and then gasped when Seamus gave his prostate one last loving caress before he withdrew his fingers. Seamus slicked his throbbing cock before aligning it with Draco's entrance and slowly pushed in.

It was amazing… No, it was beyond amazing, it was… incredible, miraculous even. Draco was always tight, but three years without contact seem to have made him even tighter, and hot, so incredibly hot. Seamus closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was doing, the sheer volume of heat and tightness was quickly undoing him and he knew he wouldn't last long. And indeed within four and a half thrusts he was crying out his release muffled by Draco's shoulder.

Seamus felt himself going red all over, and refused to lift his head, burrowing it deeper into Draco's shoulder. Draco was looking at the ceiling, trying to think of something conducive to say, but couldn't stop the slow bubble of laughter that was gathering in his chest,

"Well, that was quick." Seamus groaned and rolled off Draco, hands over his face,

"I'm sorry… Fuck, it's been so long and you were so tight and I just…" He mumbled and Draco moved to his side, trying to pray away the hands that were obscuring the beautiful face of his husband but Seamus proved rather resilient.

"Don't worry about it, you've got at least three more chances to prove yourself tonight," He purred and Seamus peeked at him through his fingers,

"Really?" It was good to know that Draco still trusted him enough to let him try again. Seamus never had premature ejaculation problems in the past, far from it. It was just seeing Draco, touching him after what felt like forever that made him operate like an eager sixteen years old on his first night out. He knew that he would be alright for the next round, the next three even.

"Yes, so you better recover fast. And also, we better move this little party to the bed, because this carpet chafes something fierce." Seamus let out a startled laughter before he stood up. Draco reached his hand for Seamus to pull him up and Seamus gave it a strong tug, resulting in an armful of the blond. Without a word Seamus placed one hand under Draco's knees and pulled his husband up. Draco let out a little shriek of laughter and wrapped his hands around Seamus' neck. Together they made their way to the bed, where Seamus lowered Draco gently and placed himself on top of him.

Draco's legs were automatically enveloped around Seamus waist and he brought his husband closer. Seamus brought his hand down to stroke both their cocks together, bringing them both back to life, while he kissed Draco passionately.

"Please, Seamus, fuck me…" Draco pleaded softly when he was hard again. He could not believe how fast they recovered, but he knew just as well that it would be a night to remember. He missed his husband so much and he knew that he'd get hard again and again and that he'd eagerly take everything Seamus had to give, even if he knew deep down that he'd regret it come morning.

Seamus' entry was smoother this time, the muscles already relaxed and sleek. This time he was more prepared for the heat engulfing his sensitive member and he could practice more control. He stilled once he was fully sheathed and looked down at Draco, hair splayed wildly on the pillow, face flushed and eyes shining. This was how he loved to see him, the way Draco let go when he was made love to was uncanny and never stopped to amaze Seamus. It was this picture in particular that helped him through countless nights, all alone in some strange town. Just thinking of the picture Draco made when he was made love to was more comforting and arousing than anything. Seamus started moving slowly, part mesmerised with where he was and what he was doing and part not wanting to hurt Draco, but his husband had other ideas,

"For the love of Merlin, Seamus, I'm not made of china and I'm not going to break, now will you fuck me already?" Seamus bit his lip trying to stop a grin; this was so like Draco, to take control even if he was the one being breeched. Seamus sped up his movements and reached down to grip Draco's cock, soon establishing a feisty rhythm and losing himself in the sensations again.

Draco moved his hands to grab the headboard behind him as was thoroughly fucked. He loved every second of it, the wild abundance in which they moved, the sound of their sweat sleeked bodies moved against each other, the smell of Seamus and sex that was assaulting his senses. Draco felt the inevitable cries building in his throat and knew he couldn't stop them. He was never one to be quiet during sex, so he took one hand off the headboard and grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved it on his face, crying his joy and satisfaction into it.

Seamus opened his eyes when he heard Draco's muffled voice and received a mild shock, when he found a cheerful blue pattern where Draco's face should have been. He wanted to pray the pillow away from Draco so that he could hear his husband. The noises Draco made during sex were the most amazing thing in the world as far as Seamus was concerned and he couldn't really fathom why Draco shushed himself up, but knowing Draco he had a sufficient reason so Seamus decided to just try and lower the pillow so that he could at least see Draco's eyes.

The crazy rhythm Seamus established was soon undoing them both. Draco was the first to come, screaming his release into the pillow and clenching hard against Seamus. The sudden squeeze of his prick by the strong inner muscles of Draco's body was too much for the Irishman to hold against and he came, mere seconds after Draco, coating his beloved's channel with his thick creamy release.

Draco removed the pillow from his face, a wide and satisfied grin on his lips. Seamus pulled out carefully and collapsed next to him. Draco rolled over to place his head on Seamus' chest, tracing little patterns on the flushed and heated skin. He winced a little when he felt the semen trickling out of his anus but decided to pay no heed to it.

"Well, that was much better." He said cheerfully and Seamus shook his head in amusement,

"Prat."

Both men lie snuggled together tangled in the sheets, neither feeling the slightest inkling to move anywhere. Draco nuzzled the soft skin of Seamus' neck, inhaling the heady scent of sex and sighed blissfully,

"Gods, I missed this…"

"Yeah, me too…" Seamus responded smugly, "I can't believe we went from twice a night- at least, to naught for three and a half years… How did things get so wrong?" Draco sighed again, this time in regret, and lifted his head from its comfortable cushion, meeting Seamus' eyes,

"Lucius hates me." He stated simply. Seamus wriggled his way from under Draco and turned so that he was facing the blond man,

"I thought it was me he hated, you know, the filthy half-blood who stole his only son and heir from what should have been lucrative marriage and all that rot." Draco chuckled humourlessly,

"Oh, don't worry, he hates you plenty for that but it was me he wanted to crush." Seamus ran his hand over the beautiful features that were etched in pain,

"Why?"

"You remember I told you of my mother's death?" Seamus nodded, pulling Draco closer to him, knowing that the subject of Narcissa's death was an open wound to his husband, even after so long, "Lucius seems to think I've had something to do with it…" Seamus gaped in astonishment,

"But you didn't, right?" Draco chewed his bottom lip and shrugged,

"That's just it! I don't remember! All I know is that he found me next to her body with absolutely no recollection of how I got there or what I was doing." Draco cried exasperatedly, there was so much mystery surrounding the death of his mother, was it a suicide, a murder and if so, by whom? Draco's darkest fear was that one day new evidence came to light to indicate that somehow he was involved…

"So what you're saying is, Lucius tortured _me_ to make _you_ suffer for something you can't even remember doing?" Draco nodded sadly, and Seamus wanted to burst out in a mad laughter- this was just so… fucked up! "That's completely screwed!" He reasoned out loud,

"You're telling me? After you left and I found out I was pregnant he tried to force me to abort the baby. He said that since I finally got rid of you I can lose the baby and start over properly." Draco spat out bitterly. The memory of that conversation he had with Lucius still fresh in his memory. The utter shock he received learning that his father would go to such length to ruin his life. "I told him to sod off."

"So what did he do?" Draco pretended to examine his fingernail nonchalantly,

"Sodded off." Seamus looked incredulous at this, this was not like Lucius…

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, him and all his money. All my inheritance, puff- gone." Seamus swore loudly, bastard! "Yes, he left me penniless and desuetude, just when I needed support the most." Seamus rose from the bed and started pacing the room in agitation, as he always did when things got a little too much for him,

"So what did you do?" He cried rubbing his hands over his face and racking them in his hair, "Shit! if I'd have known…" Draco sat up in bed and rolled his eyes, cutting Seamus off mid-rant,

"What? Come back from hiding and risk both our lives? Seamus, he's mental, completely off his rocker!" He caught Seamus wrist and tagged the Irishman back to the bed, "Do not for a second think that he wouldn't have carried out his threat! I may be his son but he wouldn't have stopped with you!" Seamus felt tears prickling in the corners of his eyes,

"Gods, this is so unfair. It's so fucked up." He allowed Draco to pull him back into their previous snuggling position, his body slowly relaxing under the warm touch of his husband,

"I know." Draco said quietly, "Luckily I bought this place before he got his paws on my money. It was suppose to be our wedding gift…" He blushed slightly at the memory, how happy he had been signing the papers for the little house, already picturing the smile Seamus would sport once he set a foot inside.

"Thank you… This place is absolutely perfect!" Seamus exclaimed, the pain in his chest doubling at the thought of the missed years.

"I had a feeling you'd like it." Draco responded with a smug and self-satisfied voice, "We were suppose to decorate the house together. I was thinking of turning one of the rooms into a sort of kinky BDSM dungeon…" Seamus gasped in mock-disbelief,

"You did not!" He cried amused and Draco shrugged,

"It was a fleeting idea but then you disappeared and two weeks later I found I was pregnant so that kind of put a stop to _that_ idea…" Draco lamented, and Seamus couldn't stop his laughter,

"You're so full of it! We never even tried spanking!"

"I figured it would be a nice change, stretch our limits and all that…" He said haughtily only to have Seamus pounce on him and tickle him mercilessly. The two were rolling on the bed trying to gain control over the other, laughing the whole time.

When they finally stopped for breath, both with aching ribs and flushed face, Seamus leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips,

"I love you. I always have." Draco reached his hand and ran his fingers softly on Seamus' face,

"I love you too." He answered, before wriggling and flopping to his side, "Now, let's get some sleep. You still got a lot of work to do tonight. Besides, Sage likes to get up really early on Sundays." Seamus chuckled and spooned behind Draco, wrapping the slender man in his arms,

"He defiantly got _that_ from _you_…" He murmured sleepily, "I _never _wake this early!"

"I know." Draco huffed good naturally, and Seamus kissed the nape of his neck feeling more content than he had in a very long time. He yawned widely and stretched a little, getting a little more comfortable and readying himself for a good nap.


	4. 4 of 6

**July 9 2006, Sunday.**

When Seamus woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone. It took him a full minute for yesterday's events to rush back to him and then a slow wide grin spread on his face, he was home.

He kept his eyes close and brought the pliant body closer to him, nuzzling the soft blond hair at the nape of Draco's neck. Draco squirmed a little at the tickling touch but burrowed deeper into Seamus' arms nonetheless. It felt so good to be held again and he never wanted to let go,

"Hmm, good morning baby." He purred, his voice scratchy with sleep,

"Good morning yourself," Seamus chuckled softly and moved backward a little to allow Draco to roll to his back so that they could face each other, "How are you feeling this morning?" He asked softly, gently brushing the hair out of his beloved's eyes,

"A bit sore. It has been a while, you know." Draco said with a small smirk at the sight of Seamus' smile crumbling,

"I'm sorry…" Draco nearly rolled his eyes, Gryffindors…

"What for?" He challenged Seamus with his eyes. Seamus opened his mouth to speak but caught the hard glint in Draco's eye and changed his mind,

"Well, when you put it this way… Nothing." The two grinned at each other before Draco pushed the covers away from him,

"Good. I'm going to have a shower, you'd better put something on- Sage tends to wake up rather early on Sundays." Draco advised before he jumped out of the bed and made his way towards the en suite bathroom. Seamus watched him go, the way his muscles moved under the flawless cream coloured skin, and smiled when he saw the remains of their four coupling sessions decorating the back of Draco's thighs. It had been a good night, oh yeah.

Seamus summoned his briefs and undershirt and hastily put them on. Just as his head was pocking from the shirt's collar the door opened slowly. Seamus sat up, crossing his legs and watched as the little face appeared around the door and were soon followed by the rest of Sage. When the boy realized that his daddy wasn't in bed he stopped and looked hesitant,

"Hello Sage, did you sleep well?" Seamus said with a cheerful voice, hoping that his son hasn't forgot who he was during the night and hoping he won't scare the child away,

"Where is daddy?"

"In the shower. Come here, please?" Seamus pleaded softly and Sage walked over and climbed the bed clumsily. He crawled on his hands and knees towards Seamus and launched himself on his father. Seamus caught him easily and laughed, wrapping his son in a big hug, not wanting to let go. Sage settled himself comfortably in his father's lap and rested his cheek on the broad chest, "Did you sleep well?" Seamus asked again, mostly at the lack of a better question and Sage nodded and yawned, rubbing his little tummy,

"I'm hungry." He complained with a little pout and Seamus nodded,

"Yeah, me too." He was very tempted to just take the boy downstairs and see what he can find but he's never been much of a cook and besides, he didn't think that Draco would be overly pleased with the initiative, "But I guess we have to wait until daddy comes out of the shower to eat…" He said gravely, a sentiment that was echoed by Sage's sigh. Seamus leaned back, into a half laying position and pulled Sage with him, cuddling him comfortably and easily. This was how Draco found them, about ten minutes later, when he stepped out of the shower wearing a pair of silk pyjamas bottoms and a simple white T-shirt, towelling his hair dry.

Draco stopped at the door and watched the way Seamus and Sage were curled together conversing softly and laughing at some private joke. The sight nearly brought tears to Draco's eyes, after so long, his little family was finally complete.

"Anyone wants breakfast?" He called and smiled as the two on the bed perked right up at the mention of food. Sage sprang from the bed and started racing to the door and from there downstairs to the kitchen, "He's a bottomless pit, I swear… he got that from you." He pointed his finger at Seamus who grinned broadly at the accusation.

Draco reached his hand and Seamus took it, and together they made their way down in a moderate pace, enjoying the closeness and the lazing about that only a Sunday morning can bring. When they entered the kitchen they found Sage already sitting in his chair, his whole face alight with anticipation for food. Draco smiled as he greeted Sage good morning with a big kiss before turning to the stove to cook them all some breakfast.

The breakfast passed in an amicable silence, the three of them acting as if they've been together forever. Seamus was mightily pleased that Draco, and particularly Sage had accepted him so easily back into their lives. He knew that the ideal atmosphere would not and could not last forever, he still had to face Lucius and fight for what was dear to him. He still had to mend his relationship with Draco, one night of hot steamy sex would not be enough, and he also had to start building a relationship with Sage, one that was based on father-son interactions rather than on one overgrown child and one toddler. But for now he tried to push all those thoughts back and simply enjoy the time with his family.

When breakfast was over and Sage happily retired to the living room to play, leaving his fathers to sort out the kitchen Seamus felt the uneasiness tugging inside him again. He kept towelling the last glass handed to him, over and over again, trying to stall for time. Draco decided he wasn't about to push Seamus or make him say anything. He suspected it was the fabulous sex they had last night that turned him soft or else he'd have snapped at the poor Irishman long ago.

"Well, I guess… I should get going…" Seamus finally put down the glass, fearing he might rub it into destruction if he carried on. Gathering all his Gryffindor courage he lifted his gaze and met a pair of steel cold eyes,

"Where? This was not an invite to a fucking one nighter, you know! You've been absent from our lives long enough and it's time you took some responsibility, both on Sage and on our marriage!" Seamus wanted to smile at Draco's rant but he knew his husband well enough to know that this was a sure way to lose some very important organs. Organs he just recently had a chance and pleasure to use again…

"I wasn't planning on running away," He answered pleasantly, folding the tea-towel carefully, "But I do need to get back to the hotel and pick up my stuff." Draco, having exhausted the steam of his rant at Seamus' words simply looked at his feet, feeling rather sheepish,

"Oh." Seamus' smiled widened as he closed the gap between them and pulled Draco into his arms. It took Draco a moment before he burrowed into the hug and sighed deeply. He's going to need to have a lot more faith in Seamus if he wanted this to work.

"I'm not going to run away," Seamus whispered into the flaxen hair of his lover, "I promise. I was a coward before but I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"We'll tackle Lucius together," Draco said in a firm voice, his face still buried in Seamus' neck, not wanting to let go of the warmth and comfortable feeling, "Bloody hell, Seamus, I don't know what I'd do if you disappeared again!"

"I never meant to leave in the first place." Draco sighed and pulled back a little so that he could see the blue eyes he loved so much,

"I know. You just make sure it doesn't happen again." Seamus chuckled, the way Draco commanded the world to do his bidding was quite formidable.

"Well, I better get going, I'll be back in half an hour tops." He promised, but Draco wouldn't release him. Seamus almost gave in to the temptation of keeping a hold of his man but eventually he prayed himself free.

"We're coming with you." Draco said in a tone of finality,

"What? What for?" Draco raised his chin in defiance,

"You said it yourself, he's been watching you. He can't get to you here, the wards are too strong and he wants me to suffer so he won't touch me, but once you're out there who knows what can happen. I'm not letting that maniac getting to you a second time!" Seamus was moved by the gesture, he really was but the need to protect his husband and son wouldn't allow him to accept Draco's terms.

"Draco… please… I don't want either of you to get hurt."

"He's hurting you because of me, don't you get it?" Draco felt the urge to smash something to deliver his point to the thick headed man he loved so much, "We're going with you and that's final!"

Seamus knew there was no point arguing with Draco when he got into one of his one-track-mind sort of moods and nodded in defeat. Draco gave a curt nod in response and went to the living room to retrieve Sage.

The three apparated straight to the hotel door since, as Draco concluded, it didn't really matter if they hid or not. Seamus stood nervous in front of the door, imagining all sorts of horrors lurking on the other side of it. He glanced sideways to see Draco's set jaw and Sage wide-eyed curiosity and braced himself. He reached for his room key and unlocked the door, pushing it to swing fully open on its hinges, and nearly smiled. In front of the door, sitting comfortably in an armchair was Lucius Malfoy, the big bad wolf, flanked by two massive bodyguards/brutal beasts standing behind him on both sides.

"Well, well, well, what have we here, the happy family is reunited at last… I see that you went against every logical thought and came back here, Mr. Finnigan. A big mistake, huge!" Lucius' voice was cold and hard, devoid of any human warmth whatsoever. "You will be punished for your insolence."

"Father, still too scared to go after the person you really want to hurt I see. What cowardice." Draco gritted out in a cold voice that didn't reach the level of iciness of Lucius' voice,

"Draco, how lovely to see you again. Come to witness the fall of your husband? And you brought the little vermin you spawned to the party. What fun." Before anyone could move a muscle, Draco's wand was in his hand, his eyes blazing with so much anger that Sage began to whimper and cower from his father,

"Crucio!" Lucius convulsed and started writhing on the chair he sat in, screaming at the top of his lungs. By the time his two thugs registered what was going on they were both on the floor, stupefied. Draco let Sage slide from his grasp, his eyes never leaving the prone form of Lucius, as the boy ran for cover behind Seamus. Seamus immediately squatted and wrapped Sage in a tight hug, crying Draco's name to bring his husband out of the trans he seemed to be in.

"Draco, stop!" Draco turned his head, his concentration broken and blinked several times, as if not sure where he was or how he got there. He saw Seamus kneeling and hugging the terrified Sage and immediately dropped his wand and kneeled besides them, murmuring soothing words in Sage's ear to calm his son down.

Neither of them saw when Lucius started to stir. Years of servitude under the Dark Lord had taught the infamous Malfoy patriarch quite a lot of things, more specifically, how to recover fast from a Cruciatus curse. The sight of the embracing family might have melted the heart of any other man, but not Lucius Malfoy. He drew out his wand and grabbed a small item from his pocket and rose to his feet, looking at majestic as ever, albeit slightly stiff.

"So, you want to end our little game once and for all… Pity, you've been such a sport so far." At the sound of Lucius' voice Draco spun around and quickly rose to his feet. His hand went to his pocket to draw his wand only to come back out empty. For a split second the scene froze, the two adversaries eyed each other, then Draco dove for his wand, but Lucius was quicker and grabbed a hold of Draco's arm, where the little portkey was hidden. The last thing Draco heard before he felt the tug behind his naval was Sage's frantic cry,

"Dadddyyyyyyy!"


	5. 5 of 6

Seamus stared transfixed at the spot Draco disappeared from. He was ready to fight and maybe even die to save his family but he never imagined that Lucius would pull such a dirty stunt, it was just so… Slytherin. A groan from behind the armchair brought Seamus back to his senses, and he quickly snatched Draco's wand from the floor and gathered the sobbing Sage in his arms and apparated them away.

Seconds later they reappeared in the same spot Seamus occupied the previous day. Seamus didn't care how many magical laws or how many muggle traffic laws he was breaking as he made his way to the 'Leaky Cauldron', his sole thought was to get to Draco and save him. He burst into the old inn and rushed to the fireplace. Seamus knew full well that he couldn't possibly floo to Malfoy Manor, and even if one could actually floo straight there he couldn't possibly take Sage with him. The furthest the boy was kept from his maniacal grandfather the better. Panting and gasping and shifting the distressed child's weight in his arms Seamus took a handful of floo powder and tossed it in the grate, hoping beyond hope his crazy plan would work- it has been three years and a half after all…

"Hermione Granger!"

Seamus and Sage stepped into the green flames and moments later were spat back out into a brightly lit, somewhat minimalist and nearly obsessively tidy living room. A figure was lying on the sofa, reading a heavy tome when the flames turned green. She looked up from her book to see someone she never thought she'd see again.

"Seamus?" Seamus nearly collapsed with relief that he managed to reach Hermione,

"Mione, I need your help." He gasped and stumbled to the sofa, lowering himself on it, still clutching his son tight,

"Wha… Where… Bloody hell, Finnigan!" She cried out, not sure whether to laugh, cry or hit Seamus as hard as she could, "Nice to see you again too, a cup of tea maybe?" She asked sarcastically and crossed her arms over her chest,

"No, thanks." Hermione rolled her eyes, "I need you to take care of Sage for a couple of hours for me…"

"What? You cannot barge into my house after three and a half bloody years of being absent and ask for help, Seamus, this is not how things work! And who the hell is this?" She gestured to the boy, who burrowed his face deeper into Seamus' neck when the scary lady with the bushy hair pointed at him,

"This is Sage, his mine and Draco's. Listen, Mione, I can't explain right now, Lucius grabbed Draco and took him to the Manor and I need to save him before his demented father kill him!" Seamus desperately tried to pass his argument across. He knew he had a lot of explaining to do, especially to Hermione who helped him so much before but right now he needed to hurry!

"Alright. I'm coming with you." She stated and grabbed her wand from the coffee table. Seamus rose to his feet,

"No, Mione, please, I need you to watch over Sage…" Hermione shook her head,

"I'm rubbish with kids, besides, you're going to need help, come on." She turned to the grate and grabbed a handful of floo. Before Seamus could protest she tossed it in the grate and cried out, "The Potter residence." And stepped in. Seamus had little choice but to follow. This time they landed in a big, roomy and cosy parlour, which was unoccupied.

"Harry, can you see who's in the floo?" A woman's voice was heard from above them, and seconds later a man emerged from the room to their left,

"Hey, Mione…" Harry greeted her with a friendly voice when his eyes fell on the man standing behind her and he stood stock still frozen with shock,

"Hey Harry…" Seamus grinned nervously, hoping that Harry would not give him too much of a hard time so that they could hurry to the Manor.

"Seamus? Seamus bloody Finnigan… I don't believe it…" Harry gazed in wonderment, eyes focused on Seamus who was still smiling nervously and Sage who by now had stopped crying and was simply shocked with all the new faces and noises and scared to death that his daddy had disappeared like that.

"Harry, we don't have much time, Lucius kidnapped Draco and took him to the Manor. We need you to watch over the boy while we're going to retrieve him." Hermione explained briskly and Seamus was immensely grateful for her sharp and quick mind.

"Who's the boy?" Harry asked as a woman appeared in the room behind him,

"His name is Sage and his Draco's and mine." Seamus explained, knowing that Draco would have an apoplectic fit if he knew that Harry and Hermione called his son 'boy' in such a callus manner. The woman behind Harry immediately stepped forward and smiled down at Sage,

"Hello there Sage, how are you doing?" Sage cowered again against Seamus but gave the woman a tiny smile,

"Hello Hannah." Seamus greeted the blonde ex-Hufflepuff.

"Hello Seamus, we haven't seen you in a while, nice of you to drop by every couple of years!" She drawled somewhat sarcastically but there was a friendly glint in her eyes, and Seamus was glad that at least his friends knew about his relationship with Draco beforehand. Things might have been a lot more complicated otherwise. He grinned at her and she walked to him and gave him a quick hug. Meanwhile in the background Hermione was filling Harry in on the basics of the situation. From the attack on Seamus three and a half years ago to the kidnapping of Draco earlier today.

"Ok, I see. Hannah, could you please look after Sage for a while?" Harry turned to his wife while he grabbed his wand from the shelf. Hannah nodded and Seamus turned Sage in his arms so that the boy was facing him, his back to the rest of the room,

"Sage, baby, can you please go with Hannah? I'm going to find daddy and bring him back here, ok?" Sage's chin trembled a little but he didn't cry. Seamus gave him a reassuring smile which was slowly returned with a small nod. Seamus gave the little boy a gentle kiss on the forehead and passed him to Hannah.

"So, Sage, tell me, do you like hot chocolate?" Sage nodded, "With lots and lots of whipped cream on top?" A more vigorous nod, "And sprinkles?" By now Seamus was pretty sure Sage might not want to come back home at all as he watched Hannah taking his very excited son to the kitchen, laughing and talking of different colours of sprinkles.

"Hmm, has either of you ever been to the Malfoy Manor?" Seamus asked cautiously, his satisfaction for the quick and clean solve of the Sage problem was short lived when he spotted a new flaw in his plan to charge ahead without thinking,

"Sure, loads of times." Right, he should have known that coming to Auror Potter and Auror-Healer Granger would be the best way to solve this- after all, there have been raids on the Malfoy Manor ever since they were in school and it hasn't changed during the last couple of years.

"Good, because I have no idea how to get there." Seamus grinned sheepishly and his two friends chuckled. Hermione reached out her hand and Seamus took it, and the three apparated away.

They landed just outside the wards surrounding Malfoy Manor on the countryside of Wiltshire. Seamus wanted to stomp with frustration, why did everything have to be so bloody difficult…

"Alright, what's our plan?" Harry asked, while scanning the area around him, the ever constantly vigilant Auror.

"I don't know, I mean, officially I'm a Malfoy now, since Draco and I got married and bonded so the wards should recognise me but I don't know how you two are going to get in…" Seamus said desperately, gazing beyond the shimmering screen of strong magical wards to the big house that stood in the middle of the green plush lawns.

"Tie us." Seamus turned to face Hermione with a puzzled expression,

"Granger, this is not the time for kinky bondage games! You're not my type anyway." He nearly bit off his tongue trying to stop the words, but to no avail. Seamus knew that he was at his wit's end when that mad, completely inappropriate humour came out.

"Funny, Finnigan, you should do that for a living!" Hermione on the other hand was far from impressed by her friend's less than fitting jabs, "What I mean is, tie our hands, so that the wards would be fooled into believing we are your prisoners."

She explained her plan as she handed Seamus her wand and reached both her hands forward joined in the wrists. Harry looked at her for a second before shrugging and following her example. Seamus closed his eyes briefly, a part of him wanted to object the plan but since he couldn't, by the life of him, think of a better one he reached for his wand and tapped first Hermione's wrists and then Harry's. thick cords shot from the tip of his wand and draped themselves tight. Seamus left the ends of the ropes free and grabbed them in his hand, tugging Harry and Hermione to him. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, closing his eyes in the last second and marched forward, dragging his two mates behind him.

After a couple of steps he stopped and gingerly opened one eye and then the other, before slowly turning around, fearing of what he might see. What he did saw was two rather impatient friends reaching their bound hands for him to untie. Seamus breathed in relief and released Harry and Hermione from the spell, returning their wands to them. Together the three began to make their way swiftly and vigilantly towards the house.

At the front door Hermione whispered her practically trademark 'Alohomora'. The door clicked open and swung inward silently. The three exchanged an uneasy look, was Lucius so cocky that he believed the outer wards to protect his home or was he waiting for them?

They slipped inside and started making their way towards the dungeons where Lucius had most likely taken his son to. The house was eerily quiet, not a soul was in sight, not even a house-elf. Seamus kept his wand trained before him, a soft 'Lumos' to help him see as the corridors became more narrow and darker as the descended to the lower levels of the grand manor house.

They moved in a single file, Harry leading the way and Hermione bringing up the rear, casting tracking spells to help them locate the whereabouts of Draco. They were currently exploring a long dank and dreary corridor when Hermione let out a tiny hiss to draw the boys' attention, Seamus and Harry turned to watch her and she signalled with her head on a heavy wooden door they had just passed.

Seamus took another cleansing breath, and watched in envy at how composed and collected his companions were. He suspected the years of working at the Aurors department was the reason for that. That and the fact it wasn't their husband who'd been tortured by his father.

The three gathered around the door, Harry in the middle and Seamus and Hermione on either side of him, before the boy-who-lived blasted the door open with a loud bang. They rushed forward into the room, and Seamus stopped dead on his tracks, nearly gagging at the sight of Draco chained to the wall, half naked and covered in angry red welts caused by the whip Lucius was holding. Before he could think Seamus ran forward, shouting an unlocking spell aimed for the cuffed that held Draco's hands pinned to the wall above his head. As soon as the cuffs were opened Draco slid boneless to the floor and Seamus caught him in his arms. He quickly took off his jacket off and wrapped it around Draco, murmuring soft reassurances in his ear.

As soon as they entered the room, Harry zoomed in on Lucius, knowing full well that Seamus' first and only concern would be for his mate. Harry flourished his wand and pinned it to Lucius neck, effectively stopping the man from doing anything reckless. The whip fell from Lucius' limp fingers tumbling to the floor as the older man raised his hands in submission.

"Draco, love, can you stand up?" Seamus cooed softly and when Draco nodded he helped him haul himself upwards. They both turned around, their eyes widening in shock at the sight of Hermione's frightened gaze as a wand was pressed tightly to her jugular. A wand held by none other than Bellatrix Lastrange.

"Oh, this is so sweet… All the family together again… Narcissa would have loved to see that." She croaked in a raspy voice, her tone dripping with malice. Before Draco or any of his saviours had a chance to respond Lucius snarled viciously,

"Don't talk of Narcissa you wench!" Bellatrix let out a shrill mad laughter and pressed the tip of her wand to dig deeper into Hermione's skin.

"You don't want me to mention that worthless whore. That trophy wife of yours that wasn't even worthy enough to marry a pure-blood. She was weak, weak and stupid!" Bellatrix yelled spittle flying from her mouth to land on Hermione's hair, while Lucius and Draco watched her in utter shock, "Yes, I killed her Lucius, I had to- she was an embarrassment to our kind and to the family name, she was filth!"

Lucius gulped and seemed to regain some of his posture only to launch himself on his sister-in-law, but Harry was there to hold him back, in case Bellatrix decided to take it out on Hermione. Bellatrix on the other hand, let out another one of her chilling and eerie laughs,

"Come and get me if you can, _brother_…" She snarled, "I only came here to finish off the job for you, that," He pointed at Draco with a tilt of her chin, "Is clearly _her_ son! He's been associating with mudbloods and half-breeds. He saw me kill his mother, cried like a little boy he did. It was so convenient, almost no hassle at all to pin the whole affair on him, just a little memory charm and all of a sudden he found himself covered with her blood and not knowing why... Such a weak and unworthy boy, he should die as well." Draco cowered slightly against Seamus, his knees nearly buckling under him.

While Bellatrix was flinging her wild accusations Seamus looked intently at Hermione. She had her eyes locked with his, trying to assess the strength Bellatrix was using to pin her to the spot. Seamus tightened his hold on his wand and shifted Draco slightly so that he got a better stance. Back in their fifth year at Hogwarts, during the secret DA meetings Harry usually coupled his members into pairs to practice together and so Seamus and Hermione found themselves hurling hexes at each other and dodging them. After a few session Hermione got a little bored and brought in a very interesting idea. She told Seamus of how chimpanzees and other apes use to hunt in groups communicating solely with their eyes. At the time they thought it was a game, a bit of fun while the others struggled with shields and patronous charms. But right now, standing in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor, Seamus was so grateful for the practice because this could very well be the deal breaker between life and death in this situation.

When Hermione gave him the signal he waited one heartbeat, for Hermione to step viciously on Bellatrix foot and shouted,

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix dropped like a rock, not knowing what hit her and Hermione grabbed the wand from her limp hand and pocketed it fast. Harry and the two Malfoys simply watched in amazement at the prone form of the unconscious mad death eater. Hermione raised her head and grinned widely at Seamus, taking two steps towards him and lifting her hand, Seamus high-fived her with a matching wide grin. The sound of the slap seemed to have shaken the rest of the room's occupants from their stupor (save Bellatrix of course), and Harry was the first to react, conjuring a pair of shiny steel handcuffs and forcing the nearly unresisting Lucius' hands behind his back, locking the cuffs in place with a satisfying click. Hermione quickly followed and bound Bellatrix securely before casting an 'Ennervate' on her. As soon as Bellatrix regained consciousness she started screeching in rage, thus forcing Hermione to cast a silencing spell on her.

Seamus felt Draco starting to slip from his grip and turned to look at him, seeing the ashen face and the fact that the only thing holding Draco upright was his arm around his waist. Seamus immediately pocketed his wand and pulled Draco to his arms, carrying him over to the door. Draco's head rested on Seamus' shoulder and his breathing was shallow,

"Harry, Mione, I need to get him to the hospital. Will you guys be alright?" He asked urgently. The two Aurors nodded and pushed the struggling, hissing and spitting Bellatrix and the shocked and unresisting Lucius before them. Seamus hurried upstairs to the nearest grate he could find, tossing a handful of powder and calling,

"St. Mungo's hospital." As soon as he landed a medi-witch came running to him. Seamus lowered Draco to the floor, feeling so drained of energy all of a sudden. Soon a team of healers and medi-witches was taking Draco away from him and he just stayed slumped on the floor, until a kind elderly medi-witch tapped his shoulder and offered him a seat at the waiting room and a cup of hot tea.

As soon as Seamus regained his force he rushed to the floo to fire-call Hannah and ask her to bring Sage to the hospital before he went to pester the staff about his husband's condition. In spite of everything that happened to him, in spite all the grief and pain he's endured Seamus couldn't recall a longer day or night. He sat in the reception area of the emergency ward with Sage, who long ago fell asleep with his little head in his father's lap and stared at the white flap doors, where Draco had been wheeled. He saw Healers and medi-personnel coming in and out of the room but none of them turned to look at him or pay any attention to him.

Hermione reached the ward a couple of minutes ago and disappeared behind the doors, in pursuit of news about Draco's condition. She told Seamus that both Lucius and Bellatrix were sent to Azkaban to await their trials and were probably going to return there for a very long time, considering the face that each of them had a list of charges as long as several feet.

Seamus thought he was going to go mad, the waiting was killing him, the uncertainty of what was wrong with his beloved made him anxious and jumpy. He couldn't even pace around and channel some of the energy because Sage was sleeping in his lap and knew full well that his son has been through far too much for one day and he didn't want to startle the boy further.

After what felt to Seamus like days, but in fact was only twenty minutes Hermione stepped out of the doors and approached Seamus with a wide smile. Seamus breathed a sigh of relief before she even opened her mouth,

"Draco is going to be just fine. He suffered mostly welts from the spanking, and some minor dark curses that they were able to reverse quite easily. It looks like Lucius was planning on a long-term torture before he broke him." Seamus shuddered at the thought of Draco being tortured for hours, "The reason it's taking so long is because they want to make sure there will be no lasting damage to the foetus." Seamus' eyes widened in surprise,

"The what?"

"The foetus…" Hermione blanched, "You mean you didn't know?"

"What, that Draco is pregnant? No!" Seamus cried out in disbelief… Draco told him that he hasn't been with anyone since Seamus left… Is it possible that… "How far along is he?" He asked dreading the answer,

"Healer Matthews said he's about a day or two. I don't believe Lucius knew of this, or he would have hurt it. I'm not even sure that Draco knows about it…" She finished pensively,

A day… Seamus looked down at the child in his lap, it was just too unbelievable. He had just found out he had one son and now he and Draco were about to have another child!

"Is the baby alright?"

"Yes, both Draco and the foetus will be fine. I'm pretty sure the healer would let you in to see him soon enough." Hermione said, smiling at the euphoric look that was spreading on Seamus' face.

"We're going to have another baby…" Seamus whispered excitedly, as to not wake Sage,

"Actually, it's not a baby yet, at the moment it's still a bundle of cells…" Seamus tuned out Hermione's medical babble and just let the warmth of the news sip through him and fill his body with what felt like little colourful bubbles of joy.

"Mr. Finnigan-Malfoy?" Seamus' head snapped up and he saw a man standing in front of him, clad in the lime green robes of the healers, "My name is Healer Matthews and I have good news for you. Both your husband and child are doing to be just fine. Draco is currently sleeping but you may step in and see him." Healer Matthews said with a smile and Seamus was near tears when he thanked him, nudging Sage softly to wake,

"Sage, baby, come on, we're going to see daddy." Sage blinked sleepily, his foggy sleepy brain taking a while to register where he was and what was going on. He nodded and reached his little hands for Seamus to carry him. Together they entered the room the healer directed them to, on the white bed lay Draco, looking pale but peaceful, the sheets pulled to his chest. Seamus nearly sobbed in relief when he saw Draco's chest rising and falling steadily. Sage squirmed in Seamus' arms trying to reach his daddy and Seamus approached the bed slowly,

"Shh, Sage love, daddy is sleeping and we can't wake him up, ok?" Sage looked disappointed at the thought of not being able to jump and rouse his daddy and play with him. Seamus put him gently on the bed and sat next to it himself. Sage snuggled close to Draco, careful not to wake his daddy and took one of Draco's larger hands in his little palms. Still tiered and disoriented it didn't take Sage long to drop back to sleep, his little curly head resting on Draco's side. Seamus sat on the opposite side of the bed, watching over his husband and son sleeping, the tears coming freely now.

They were tears of exhaustion and gratitude that the nightmare was finally over, after three and a half years he and Draco were finally free. Tears of joy at the new beginning they would have, as a family. The new baby would symbolised this new beginning- and this time there wasn't a force that would be able to pray him from those people that were most important to him. He wiped the tears from his face, and took out his handkerchief to blow his nose when Draco steered, Seamus leaned forward slightly to be ready to bring Draco whatever he needed,

"What happened?" Draco coughed a little, trying to clear his parched throat. Seamus quickly reached for the glass of water that was left by the medi-witch on the bedside table and helped Draco take a sip, "Where's Sage?" Seamus pointed with his chin and Draco lowered his head and saw the little boy rubbing his face on his side in his sleep. Draco smiled and stroke the silky hair softly.

"How do you feel?" Seamus asked in a quiet voice, and Draco sighed,

"I've been better." Turning his head to his husband, he quirked an eyebrow at Seamus, "So, you gathered up your little Gryffindor cavalry and galloped your way valiantly to save me…" He said half-mocking half-thankful and Seamus smiled,

"Yup, pretty much. You know we can't resist a damsel in distress." Draco gaped in mock-shock and put his hand over his heart in a hurt gesture,

"You're so lucky I still feel weak and Sage is sleeping on me or else I'd show a damsel in distress!" He threatened mockingly, his fist shaking in the air. Seamus caught the flailing fist and kissed the palm.

"You're welcome, love." The two shared a long look before Draco leaned back against the pillows,

"So, what do the healers say? Am I going to live?"

"Looks like it. Actually they said you're perfectly alright, but they still want to monitor your progress for a day or two." Seamus told his husband,

"What for?" Draco pouted, he didn't feel like staying in the hospital any more than he had too. He wasn't sore or anything, just tiered but he was pretty sure that come morning he would be able to get up on his own two feet and walk away, and yet those pesky healers insist on keeping him here on a bloody whim!

Seamus could tell that Draco wasn't too happy about the idea of having to stay in the hospital another night, but unfortunately they didn't have any choice,

"Well, you remember you told me about that contraception spell?" He asked gingerly and Draco's jaw dropped,

"Oh, no… You can't be serious!" Seamus nodded with a big goofy smile,

"Yes I am, daddy." He said affectionately, pocking Draco lightly in the stomach, but Draco wasn't in the mood and he swatted Seamus' hand, "Draco, what's wrong? I… I thought you'd be happy."

"Why?" Draco spat, feeling the tears prickling behind his eyes but refusing to succumb to them, "Seamus, I wanted you to get to know Sage, to try and work things as a family, as a couple before I got pregnant again!" He cried desperately and banged his head back on the pillows. This was not how things were suppose to go! Seamus grasped his fretful husband's hand and held tight,

"I guess it's a little too late for that…" Draco snorted loudly, eyes still fixed on the ceiling, but Seamus prattled on cheerfully, far too content with his life at the moment to let Draco's ire to get to him, "We'll just have to work things as they come. And probably have to start using condoms, or memory enhancing charm after this baby is born…" Draco tried to keep his stoic face, but Seamus saw the little smile tugging at his lips,

"Shut up!" He murmured and Seamus grinned wide at him, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on Draco's lips. Draco immediately deepened the kiss, and it was only when Seamus' back was protesting on the uncomfortable hovering position that they separated again. When Seamus slumped back in his chair he stretched out comfortably,

"So, what now?" Draco gave him a mischievous smile,

"You know… We never did go on that honeymoon in the end, and I _know_ there's a beach in Greece with our name written all over it!" Seamus laughed,

"Mmm, sounds brilliant. And then we're going back home." He said with a satisfied smirk,

"Yes, then we are going home."

* * *

**A/N:** Auror-Healer is like a police doctor. You didn't think that Hermione would be satisfied with just one title, did you? 

Hannah is of course, Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff, she's married to Harry. Hermione is still single.


	6. 6 of 6

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**April 12 2007, Thursday**

"Seamus… I swear to Merlin I'm going to kill you! You son of a bitch, this is all your bloody fault! AAAHHH!!!" Seamus winced a little as his hand was once again crushed in his husband's grasp, smiling apologetically at the medi-witch who looked amused more than anything,

"Breath Draco, you're doing just great." The young woman was trying to sooth the cranky and pained Draco, while Seamus watched, he could have told the girl that an upset Draco isn't easy to pacify but he figured there wasn't much anyone could do right now.

Last time Draco had been in this position, legs spread wide apart and trying to squeeze a human being out of himself Seamus wasn't around. He briefly wondered who did Draco cursed when Sage was born but figured it was him, only sans the real person present.

"What do you know, did you even finish Hogwarts? You… useless _Hufflepuff_!" Draco was alternating between yelling at the medi-witch and Seamus, for what felt like hours, Seamus was sincerely hoping something would happen soon since he knew that if not he would simply explode and start talking back to his labouring husband and that was a sure way for him to end up in the un-bonding office in the ministry.

"Ok, Draco, in the next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can, ok?" The medi-witch, who probably wasn't as young as she looked and had at least a bit of experience with labours was far from being flustered by Draco's rudeness. Draco squeezed his eyes shot, praying to every god under and above the sky for the baby to come out fast and easy, he wasn't sure how much more of this pain he could take. Granted, this time round was much better, with Seamus and Sage doting over him, pampering him to destruction and doing their best to make the pregnancy as easy and as pleasant as possible made Draco feel like the nine months zoomed by and now he wished they would back up a little and slow down.

The contraction hit like a tidal wave of pain. The Cruciatus curse had noting on labour pains! He tried to remember to breath and push at the same time, not an easy fit in the least considering the fact his brain felt like it was about to explode. When the wave of pain was over he slumped back against the pillows exhausted. He just wanted to break down and cry. Draco felt a soft hand and a cold cloth pressed against his sweaty forehead, and sighed in gratitude.

"You're doing very well, Draco, I can see the head, I need you to keep pushing." The medi-witch's voice was way too cheerful for Draco's taste and he wished she'd leave the sanctuary of his legs and come round to where he could grab her and show her exactly how well he was doing!

He pushed again and felt the tears streaming down his face, he was tiered, so tiered and he just wanted to take a nap and let the others deal with a way to extract the baby from his body. He didn't mind at all taking a nap right now and see his baby when they'll be all clean and calm. Suddenly there was a feeling of something large squeezing its way out, something that was far too big and he grasped the hand he was holding tighter and screamed as loudly as he could until he felt the pressure lifting somewhat. He was sobbing with effort by now, feeling like he'd been split down the middle with a blunt knife,

"Great job Draco, the hardest part is over, the head is out. Now I need you to keep pushing till the rest of the baby is out." Draco tried to shoot a glare at the pesky medi-witch, but her head was buried between his legs and he couldn't see any part of her beyond his huge belly, save for a hand that was placed on one bent knee. He couldn't find a voice to yell at her anymore so he simply did what she asked him to.

When Draco pushed again, he knew for sure that the medi-witch had no children of her own, because this time pushing didn't become any easier, nor less painful. It seemed that he forgot all about the pain and joy of delivery in the near four years that passed since Sage was born.

"One more big push." The medi-witch chirped from the area of his loins and he pushed, roaring and arching until he had no energy left in his body.

"Well done, Draco. Congratulations, you have a little boy." Seamus used the release of his aching hand and rushed forward to see his newborn son. When he reached the medi-witch he was almost sorry he went. The little creature, baby, was red and puffy and screaming and looked more like something you'd find in an 'Alien' movie than an actual baby. And then, horror of horrors the medi-witch covered the little hideous thing in a blanket and handed it to Seamus. Seamus gulped and gingerly took the bundle from her hands, alien or not, it was breakable. Once the infant felt the arms of his parent wrapped around him he stopped crying and slowly opened his eyes. Seamus stared in astonishment at he clear baby-blue eyes and let out a soft sob. Gone was the alien and the gore, this was his baby, his little boy!

Slowly and carefully as if he was handling the most precious cargo in the world Seamus moved along the side of the bed to where Draco lay exhausted but smiling, and placed the precious bundle on his heaving chest,

"Gods, he's so beautiful…" Draco cooed, nursing the baby's head close to him. Seamus thought that beautiful was a little bit of an exaggeration but wisely kept his mouth shut. He stroked his finger on the soft, slightly moist skin of the little puffy face, and down his little hand. When the baby reached and wrapped his tiny fingers around Seamus' finger, his breath stopped and he felt tears prickling in his eyes. Life didn't get a lot better than this.

"So, how are we going to name him?" Draco asked softly, arranging the blanket more securely around the little body. He wanted to have his son named before the medi-witch takes him to get cleaned up. Seamus took a moment to come back from his wonderment on babies before replaying,

"Let's see, we already have Sage, how about we name this one Basil?" At Draco's horrified look, he hurried to explain, "Think about it, in a couple of years we could have an entire spice rack." He finished happily. Draco gave him a scalding look,

"This baby is lucky you got officially kicked out of the naming committee," He remarked dryly and Seamus laughed. Draco looked at the baby for a long moment, and just like with Sage he knew the prefect name, "Seamus, I'd like you meet your son- Daniel Seamus Finnigan-Malfoy." Seamus looked down at the baby and smiled wide,

"Daniel. I like it. It's not as inspired as Basil, I'll tell you that, but at least this way he's less likely to be bitten into a pulp at the playground." Draco rolled his eyes and sighed in acceptance. It was his own fault after all, he was the one who proposed Seamus in the first place after all.

**..o0o.. THE END ..o0o..**

**Thank you for letting me share this little story with you all. Hope to see you in my next fic. **

**Lil'.**


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